Two Canadians killed during battle in Ukraine, says Global Affairs

Paul Hughes says that one of the most difficult moments of his life was placing a Canadian flag on the body bag of an Alberta soldier killed during a bloody battle in eastern Ukraine.

Hughes carefully steered an ambulance carrying the body of Kyle Porter for more than four hours from an area near Bakhmut where the Canadian and another soldier, Cole Zelenco, were killed in fierce fighting last week.

“I put the Canadian flag on it. That hit me as hard as I’ve been hit in the 14 months I’ve been in the Ukraine,” Hughes said in a telephone interview from Kharkiv after recovering Porter’s body on Tuesday.

“My heart goes out to (their families). My deepest condolences.”

Global Affairs said in an emailed statement that the department is aware of reports that two canadians died in Ukraine. He said he’s following up with authorities but can’t release any more information due to privacy considerations.

Family and aid workers identified the two canadians.

Zelenco, 21, was from St. Catharines, Ontario, and was a member of the Canadian Armed Forces, his mother, Lynn Baxter, said in a phone interview from her home.

Baxter said her son first went to the war-torn country last April and returned to Canada three months later before heading off on his second tour in October.

“He was very passionate about protecting Ukrainians and trying to keep their lives as stabilized as possible.”

Baxter last spoke to his son two days before his death. The conversation turned away from the attacks that rocked the eastern Donbas region.

“He kind of kept himself hidden from me just so I wouldn’t worry,” he said.

Baxter doesn’t know much about the attack that killed his son, but he was told he didn’t suffer. “I’m very grateful for that”.

An honoring ceremony is taking place in the Ukraine, Baxter said, and his body is expected to be back in Canada in two weeks. The family is expecting a funeral on May 19.

Zelenco was described in an online fundraiser as strong and courageous with a fierce sense of loyalty.

Hughes said he did not know the two Canadian soldiers, but troops in his unit described them as brave heroes.

“These two men are heroes and they are heroes in this country,” Hughes said. “They are highly respected by their comrades.”

Hughes is a farmer and community activist from Calgary who has been in the Ukraine for over a year. He runs HUGS Helping Ukraine, a grassroots support agency that partners with local humanitarian agencies, out of Kharkiv.

He received a call from another aid organization that said two canadians he had died in a devastating battle. He knew that he had to help his partner canadians in any way that I could.

Hughes drove his organization’s ambulance to an area not far from where the two men were killed, which has seen some of the fiercest and longest-running fighting of the war. It appeared hundreds of bombs had fallen in the short time he had been recovering the soldier’s body, Hughes said.

Hughes said it has been a “fierce and barbaric war” and that the place where the men died is an epicenter.

“It’s hell on earth. It’s a bad, bad, bad place,” Hughes said.

The Canadian Ukrainian Congress expressed its condolences on social media to the families and friends of the two men.

“(They) will be remembered for their bravery and sacrifice in defense of Ukraine’s freedom and peace in Europe,” the post said.

Baxter said she is heartbroken but proud that her son stood up for what he believes in.

“Cole, in his short 21 years, did more than a lot of people do in 50 or 60 years.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on May 2, 2023.